Tottenham receives double injury blow before Liverpool as pair to miss rest of season

Liverpool returns to Anfield this weekend knowing a point against Tottenham will secure a return to next season's Champions League. It has been a difficult week for the Reds, whose unexpected title push has faltered after results against Everton and West Ham.

Jürgen Klopp's side can cement third spot with a victory over Tottenham, who is looking to bounce back from the north London derby disappointment. Spurs trailed 3-0 to Arsenal at half-time last weekend and despite a spirited fightback in the second-half, finished the match empty-handed.

Tottenham is currently fifth and takes on Chelsea on Thursday night before the trip to Anfield. Ange Postecoglou's men have two games in hand on Aston Villa but find themselves seven points behind.

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And their task has been made harder after losing both Timo Werner and Ben Davies for the rest of the season. On-loan forward Werner was forced off in the first-half against Arsenal with a hamstring problem, while Davies is sidelined with a calf injury.

Speaking in his press conference ahead of the match with Chelsea, Postecoglou said (via Football.London): "Unfortunately, we've had a couple of issues. Timo with a hamstring. He'll miss the rest of the season, obviously, with only three weeks to go, he won't be back. Ben picked up a calf issue, which will probably rule him out of the rest of the games as well.

"It's fair to say that we were in good shape from a squad point of view. We had a good rhythm in terms of games. Since then we've had some disruptions in many areas and had to overcome those challenges, some well, some not so well."

Losing Davies is a big blow to Spurs ahead of a crucial week, with first-choice left-back Destiny Udogie also out for the remainder of the campaign. He revealed last week that he had undergone surgery with the injury likely to rule him out of the European Championships.

Ryan Sessegnon remains on the sidelines, meaning Emerson Royal could be forced to deputize for Davies at Anfield this week. Brennan Johnson or Richarlison could come in for the sidelined Werner, while Oliver Skipp is fit to return.

Liverpool.com says: Spurs will still have hopes of making the top four but simply have to beat Chelsea and Liverpool this week. That will not be easy and the loss of Werner and Davies will add to Postecoglou's problems. He has had an impressive debut season and will back his side to be even stronger next time around.